Monday, July 19, 2010

Quick & Dirty Sewing - Simplicity 2883



I had time to sew over the weekend, yay!

Last night, at 5.00pm, I pulled Simplicity 2883 (now OOP) out. I needed a few easy knit dresses - dresses have a way of looking pulled together, without worrying about coordinating anything, and the knit dress I made a couple of months ago has got a ton of use so far.

This is an amazingly easy dress. I started at 5.00pm, I was done at 8.30pm. That's incredibly fast sewing for me, and it even included some ripping (I don't actually recall a sewing project that didn't include ripping, that's just how I roll.)

The dress has 4 pattern pieces - bodice front & back, skirt front & back. I skimmed the instructions, and then just did what I wanted anyway.

The bit I did notice was that they have you fold the neckline and armhole seams back, and stitch down. Now, this is an invitation for major stretching out of shape - and I'd also been wanting to try the amazing Jalie technique to finish necklines and armholes. Kay describes it much better than me here. Now that I read her description, I find I did mine wrong(!), but it worked pretty well anyway. I love how easy this technique is, and I'll be using it forever!

Silly stuff I did - I was doing the Jalie technique fast, and didn't measure/pin stuff right. As a result, my neckline's too tight, and my back gapes a tiny bit. (Entirely because I am an idiot. This technique is flawless and perfection. I'm in love with this finishing method.)

I still haven't hemmed the dress, a step I might end up skipping. (As soon as Cidell said on her blog that she didn't finish her knit hems, I decided that was validation enough, and promptly stopped hemming my knit dresses.)

End result? Hmm. I'm torn here - mostly because as I look at these photos, I realize I look ridiculously pudgy and chunky. Now, I've been eating poorly, and being even lazier than normal, and have therefore put on a few pounds, (and on my 5ft frame, you can see every f***ing pound). But still - I look square in this picture, and square is not a good look.

Skipping the belt, I just look pregnant. So, sigh. I'll wear the dress to do errands and such-like, and maybe I'll wear it in real life if I just drag myself to the gym and lose a few pounds (alternatively, I should just drink copious amounts of coffee and start smoking, right?*)

Ok, other details. The fabric was a remnant from Fabricland, who I'm really pissed off with, since look at the tear in this fabric! I was seriously annoyed, but too lazy to take it back to the store. Still, I did have enough fabric to make the dress I wanted.



I made a size 10 all the way through, I think, and ended up taking 5 inches off the length of the skirt.

*I'm joking, people.

4 comments:

Sew Shy said...

OMG Reethi, I can't believe you don't like the way you look in this dress - I think you look fabulous in it! That's a very flattering print.

Summerset said...

I think you look good in it. The print is the right scale and fools the eye. Although, to be fair, I'm not viewing it IRL, and don't we all want to lose at least 5lbs?

anuradha said...

I also think it looks nice on you,bright and beautiful!

Anonymous said...

as my son says dont fish for compliments..its beautiful - Im so stealing it....so when u come to our get together please bring this one and the black with dots for moi...Princess :)